Blind Fashion - a little history :)

One of the most frequent questions I get asked when I am giving a presentation ... how do you choose your clothes.   If you know me; you know I love shopping, creating outfits, and fashion.  Someone recently said to me - you should do some blog posts on fashion and blindness. Seriously?  FUN!  I'm in.

Each summer as a little girl I would go to my grandma and grandpa's house and have my 'days'.  One of my favorite memories was sitting there usually with my cousin while my grandma brought out various outfits from her closet.  She was enlisting our help in her choosing what to wear for book club!  It seemed part of the excitement of book club was what to wear! She would then pull out her book that had paperclips on about every page and practice her book review presentation to us. My grandma has given me a beautiful example of loving fashion (which she still does at 98 years old) and love of learning.

Growing up in Cache Valley, each year school clothes shopping with my mom was a very special adventure.  We would come down to Ogden or SLC and have a great day(s)! It was such a special time with my mom that included lunch and finding fun clothing items.  There were so many other times - finding a special outfit was part of the fun and such a bonding experience.  My mom gave me such an example of valuing time with her daughter, shopping fun, and also the value of money as we had the fun of shopping for bargains as well as cute clothes.  It was/is a special bonding time.  Part of the fun experience was coming home and then sharing with my dad (or brothers if willing :), what we had purchased.

With my own daughter, I reflect on so many times of fun and laughter shopping for many years. I wanted her to have these same fun experiences. I recall her entering first grade - in our new home that was right near a bus stop (yay!!). We took the bus and ventured down to SLC as mother, daughter and little brother. Steve was working downtown at the time and we met him for lunch.  Steve and I hugged as he knew this was a victory for me :).  I was just learning cane travel so ... a little scary.  I can still tell you that first little outfit I bought for her as a new blind independent mom was amazing! Osh Gosh, blue and white shorts and top at ZCMI.  Do you remember, Natalie?